The facility opened with a basketball game between the Sooners and the University of KansasJayhawks on January 13, 1928, which the Sooners won 45-19. When it opened, the facility held over 5,000 people.

As the campus was constructed around the Field House, parking for fans disappeared[1] and attendance at games dwindled as well. After the Lloyd Noble Center opened in 1975 and the basketball teams moved south to the new facility, the Field House seemed forgotten and neglected.

Plans for refurbishment began in the 1990s along with other campus improvements,[2] and fundraising began in earnest in September 1997.[3] In 2005 the initial phase of a $6 million renovation project was completed, including the building's first-ever climate control system, refurbishment of the historic wood floor, new chair-back and retractable seats. The facility had to be completely rewired, not only to handle the new heating and air-conditioning systems (its first ever) and the new lighting and state-of-the-art sound and video systems, but to bring the building up to current electrical code standards.

The next phase of renovations to the Field House, scheduled to be completed by 2012, include locker room upgrades, additions of restrooms and concessions, and expansion of the wrestling practice facility from its current 4,500 square feet (420 m2) to more than 8,000 square feet (740 m2). Finally, all of the building's windows, a distinguishing feature of the Field House, will be replaced, along with the roof.[4]